1. In 1983, the federal government provided a contribution of $8 million, followed by an additional $9.5 million in 1984, to assist the Cyprus Anvil Mine. These contributions were repaid in 1985 by Curragh Resources, when they purchased the mine. In 1991, the federal government provided a loan guarantee in the amount of $17 million to the new owners. The company was not, however, able to draw on this line of credit prior to its shutdown in 1992. The then federal Department of Human Resources initiated an Employee Salary Cost Sharing Program to assist an overburden stripping project.
2. With the closure of the Cyprus Anvil Mine in 1985, the Yukon government assumed financial responsibility for the town of Faro. The Yukon government provided a loan guaranteed in the amount of $15 million for working capital. This line of credit was not used. In 1991, the Yukon government provided an additional $5 million to Curragh Resources to meet outstanding obligations to the Yukon Energy Corporation.
In June 1997, the Yukon government and Anvil Range Mining negotiated an agreement aimed at reducing costs. Among other things, this agreement provided for:
-a Yukon government contribution of up to $200,000 per year, over five years, to a training trust fund. This was in addition to the $150,000 that they had already committed for 1997;
-assistance to identify new ore deposits and increase mine life; and
-assistance through existing programs to help Anvil Range Mining upgrade outdated equipment.
The provision of this assistance was dependent upon Anvil Range Mining meeting its outstanding financial obligations to the Yukon Energy Corporation.
3. In addition to the above, the federal government has been asked to provide details of other mining ventures where support has been provided. Departmental officials expect this information during March of this year.
As can be seen, the federal government has provided very limited assistance to this mine. With the exception of the employee salary cost sharing program, all federal contributions and loan guarantees were either repaid or left unused.